Mugabe's
Party Resists Further Reforms Ahead of Elections

WASHINGTON — Political temperatures are again rising
in Harare even after the three parties in the government of national unity
agreed to a final draft of the constitution after more than 3 years of
sometimes heated debate.

Zanu-PF chief negotiator and Justice
Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, on Thursday told the Zimbabwe Independent
newspaper that after the constitution, there will be no further reforms
ahead of elections expected this year.

Mr. Chinamasa was responding
to remarks by MDC-T chief negotiator and Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, that
there is need for further reforms. The MDC wants the reform of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission secretariat, media laws, and the security
sector.

The MDC also wants international observers to be deployed early
to monitor the pre and post election environment. Zanu-PF is likely to clash
with the Southern African Development Community appointed mediator Jacob
Zuma, whose envoys have also said they want reforms ahead of
elections.

The envoys were in Harare on Tuesday and promised to visit the
country more frequently to ensure outstanding issues in the election roadmap
are resolved.

Political analyst Earnest Mudzengi also director of the
Media Centre told VOA that the presence of Mr. Zuma’s envoys is likely to
help MDC’s cause.

Meanwhile, the MDC says thousands of people have
submitted nomination papers to contest in the partys council, parliamentary
and senate primary elections.

Zanu-PF secretary for administration
Didymus Mutasa had said earlier that his party’s primary elections would be
held this month but party sources said they are likely to be postponed due
to wrangling over the criteria of choosing candidates.

The MDC
formation led by Industry Minister Welshman Ncube is also accepting
nomination papers.

Organising secretary Nelson Chamisa of the
Tsvangirai MDC sad everyone is pleased with the quality of candidates who
want to represent the party.

Parties
head for showdown

Parties in the inclusive Government are headed for
a showdown on how to handle international observers during the forthcoming
referendum and general elections.

Zanu-PF insists that elections
should be held under the framework of the amended electoral law, while MDC-T
has made other proposals outside the agreement on electoral
laws.

MDC-T wants international observers to come for the referendum and
stay in Zimbabwe until and after elections.

Justice and Legal Affairs
Minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday said according to the amended electoral
law, international observers should come in the country a day before
nominations and stay for 15 days after the last polling day.

“All the
three parties agreed to the electoral amendments and the issue of
international observers will be governed by what is in the electoral law and
Sadc principles and guidelines on elections,” he said.

“We agreed
that the period of observation should be a day before nominations and 15
days after the polling day. Normally we hold our polls over two
days.

“The election process begins with the nomination, then the real
election time and the post election, meaning the observers should also cover
the counting of votes and other things related to that.”Minister
Chinamasa said foreigners should apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
for them to observe the electoral processes in Zimbabwe.

“Those outside
the country who want to observe the elections should apply to the
Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while locals will have
to apply to the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs.

“The ministries
know who and how to invite the international and local observers,” he
said.Minister Chinamasa said there would be another committee to accredit
those who would have been invited to observe the polls.

“A committee
will accredit those who would have applied and the committee would include
officials from the Department of Immigration and Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission.”Minister Chinamasa anything outside the electoral laws would be
unacceptable.“Those calling for more

proposals are just
expressing their wish.”However, MDC-T secretary general Mr Tendai Biti said
they wanted international observers to stay in Zimbabwe for a longer
period.

“We want, not just local observers, but those from the
international community also,” he said.“Our demand as a party is that
once these observers come for the referendum, they should stay in the
country up until election time.

“If they want farms we will give them and
if they want husbands or wives we will give them.”MDC secretary general
Mrs Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga was singing a different tune.She
said the parties agreed that the issue of international observers would be
discussed within the context of Jomic.

“We have already agreed on that
and Jomic will come up with proposals on how and when we need these
observers and that is what we will follow,” she said.

Principals to the
Global Political Agreement endorsed the amendments that are now part of the
amended Electoral Act.

The amendments were enacted into law in September
last year.The referendum is provisionally slated for end of March followed
by election sometime this year.

Seven banks not complied with minimum capital
threshold

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono today said
seven banks had not complied with the December 31 2012 minimum capital
threshold of US$25 million.

Gono said this while presenting his
Monetary Policy statement on Thursday, Gono said only 14 had complied with
ZABG Bank, Capital Bank, Agribank, FBC Building Society, Trust Bank, Metbank
and ZB Building Society yet to comply

“In the interest of transparency
and accountability, I am pleased to report that a total of 14 banking
institutions or 67 percent have met the 31 December 2012 minimum threshold,”
said Gono.

Gono said consistent with pronouncements enshrined in the 2012
Mid Term Monetary Policy Statement, all banking institutions submitted their
detailed recapitalization plans to the Reserve Bank by 30 September 2012,
which were evaluated for credibility.

“Subsequently, the Reserve Bank
engaged the respective banking institutions on the feasibility of their
recapitalization plans. Generally, the recapitalization plans hinged on
rights issues, mergers and consolidations, organic growth and fresh capital
injections from both local and foreign investors,” he said.

Gono said
two banks were in need of further improvement in capitalisation. The two are
ZABG, currently on US$15,8 million capital and Capital Bank at US$7,5
million. Gono said he had rendered their plans credible and they were
expected to come to fruition soon

Gono said ZABG might get a capital
injection from NIEEB, which could be between US$20 million and US$30
million.

“Recapitalization plans for two banking institutions require
further refinements to render them credible,” he said

Gono said
banking institutions should cease making unilateral self exaltations in any
media as regards compliance with prudential requirements including minimum
capital, without seeking prior Reserve Bank approval.

“Any such
unsanctioned declarations will attract appropriate regulatory action. At all
times, banking institutions will be required to comply with the applicable
minimum prudential requirements in respect of Asset Quality, Management and
Corporate Governance; Liquidity and Earnings,” he said

Gono said the
Reserve Bank had finalized a blue print of its Banking Sector Vision 2020.
The vision is said to be centered around the pursuance of banking sector
solvency and stability to anchor sustained economic growth and
development.

“Within this context, the Reserve Bank envisions a banking
sector by December 2020 with the following key features, characteristics and
capabilities. A thriving banking sector with functional Lender of Last
Resort and active interbank market,” he said

It will also entail the
establishment of universal banks and an integrated framework. The vision
will include adequately capitalized and competitive banking sector with the
ability to support the funding needs of the economy and banks with ability
to attract significant financial resources from both local and international
sources.

Gono said attendant liquidity shortages coupled with the absence
of an active inter-bank market, limited access to affordable external credit
lines and absence of Lender of Last Resort compounded the domestic operating
environment for banks.

Gono said this while president his Monetary
Policy today, He said notwithstanding this, the country’s banking sector
remains generally safe and sound.

“This is despite the challenges
faced by Royal Bank and Genesis Investment Bank,” he said.

Royal bank
is under curatorship, while Genesis surrendered its banking
license.

“Against this background, the Reserve Bank continues to
vigilantly monitor and rigorously apply risk based supervisory techniques
geared at facilitating the early detection of potential bank fragilities,”
he said.

He said lending rates quoted by banks in 2012 remained high, in
the backdrop of deep-seated liquidity shortages as a consequence of limited
access to external credit lines and adverse balance of payments
developments.

“The lending rates also reflected high Premiums charged by
some banks, irrespective of their cost structures”

Mpofu’s
ZABG bank undercapitalised

ZABG Bank, owned by Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, remains
undercapitalised with the central bank conceding it was concerned with the
“credibility” of the institution’s plans to comply with new minimum capital
requirements.

According to figures released by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) chief, Gideon Gono, Thursday, ZABG’s capitalisation stood at about
US$16 million, way below the US$25 million minimum threshold commercial
banks were supposed to have met by last December.

Gono said six other
institutions were also still to meet the minimum requirement but said five
of these had made “significant progress in terms of the credibility of their
capitalization” plans.

The RBZ boss however said concern remained over
ZABG and Capital Bank, whose capitalisation levels are even more precarious
at just over US$7 million.

“(However) two banking institutionshave
recapitalization plans in need of further improvement to render them
credible,” said Gono.A company linked to Mpofu injected US$22,8 million into
ZABG last June to help prevent the bank from collapse in a deal that gave
the minister 100 percent control and left the institution in what was then
described as a healthy capital position.

Gono confirmed the
transaction in a public spat with Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere
over the indigenisation of the country’s banking sector.

“The example of
Minister of Mines Dr Obert Mpofu who came forward with his money and sought
permission to take over ZABG bank which was ailing then is a case in point,”
Gono said in a statement reacting to Kasukuwere’s threats to target
foreign-owned banks.

“We gave him two years within which to regularise
the ownership structure of that bank to a maximum of 25 per cent for any
single shareholder which he committed to do but for the time being he has
put in money and is a 99,9 per cent shareholder.”

But within a few
months of the rescue deal, the RBZ raised minimum capital requirements for
commercial banks to US$25 million from US$12.5 million, leaving the
institution again scrambling for more investment.

Still, Gono said
Thursday that could get additional support of up to US$30 million from the
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB).

ZABG
was formed following the amalgamation of several struggling financial
institutions after the 2003-05 financial crisis.

Gono
sued over US$800k mobile bill

CENTRAL bank chief, Gideon Gono has been dragged to the
courts by the state-owned NetOne Cellular over an unpaid US$805,996 mobile
phone bill.

According to summons before the High Court, Gono was cited in
his representative capacity as the state-owned mobile phone firm presses for
payment of the bill which was accrued over a two year period.

But
Gono has denied personal responsibility for the bill.Said his lawyers: “The
defendant as Governor pleads that the plaintiff’s claim is bad in law to the
extent that it cites him as such instead of citing the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, which is a body corporate with power to sue and to be sued in
terms of the RBZ Act.

“The plaintiff has not, prior to instituting legal
action, complied with Section 63 of the RBZ Act as read with Section 6 of
the State Liabilities Act. The plaintiff has not issued and served the
defendant with notice of intention to sue as required by the
law.”

NetOne claims it reached an agreement with the central bank to
supply the institution with mobile telecommunication services and delivered
contract lines to the institution as part of the deal.

The company
claims the contract ran between 2009 and 2011 but the RBZ failed to pay for
the services prompting the court action.

On Saturday, a spokesman for
Gono accused NetOne of "the worst form of abuse of people's names that we
have ever witnessed".

"They are recycling an old debt story for which
they were informed that they should sue the Reserve Bank if they so wish,
but to continue suing the Governor personally reflects the ineptitude of not
just their management but their legal advisers," said spokesman Alson
Mfiri.

"It's a bank debt and they know it. We agreed to offset that debt
against over US$2 million they owe the RBZ in payments made on their behalf
to their overseas creditors but pettiness and personal hatred of the Govenor
continues to drive them to personalise issues."

Obert Chifamba
Senior ReporterTHE Zimbabwe National Roads Administration is struggling to
cope with demand for vehicle licence renewals amid revelations their system
was down. Motorists said yesterday that they had failed to

renew
their licences owing to long queues at Harare Main Post Office and CBZ
Bank.“I went to Zimpost yesterday (Thursday) and found that there was a
very long queue and their system was taking very long to process licences,
so I had to go away,” Harare motorist Miss Norest Chinake
said.

Another motorist, Gibson Tanga said he had been advised to return
on Monday or Tuesday when the queues would have cleared.

A third
motorist, however, said she was going to secure the licence through NMB
Bank, which is an agent of Zinara

Zinara head-administration and human
resources Mr Precious Murove conceded that they had been facing challenges
with their system, but said they had since addressed the issue.

“Our
system was down yesterday (Thursday) but we have managed to address the
problem and we are working normally as you can see.

“On Thursday we
only managed to process 9 000 licences because of the problem. Under normal
circumstances, we do between 20 000 and 25 000 licences a day,” he
said.

He added that they had so far renewed the licences of 230 000
vehicles out of the 418 000 vehicles in their database.

They have
engaged CBZ Bank, ZABG Bank, Met Bank and Zimpost to be their agents through
which motorists can buy or renew their licences.

Zinara, he said, would
not be penalising motorists for failing to renew their licences until the
30-day reprieve provided for in the Roads Act expires at the end of this
month.

“Our system is automated to start charging penalties for late
licence renewals only after 30 days so we cannot penalise anyone before that
period lapses.

“I am not suggesting that the public should shelve
plans to renew their licences.“It is only Zinara that will not be on
their case, but the police will be arresting motorists for using vehicles
with expired licences so the public must hasten to acquire new licences if
they had not,” he said.

Mr Murove said their head office and the other
office at the Harare Show Ground would remain open during weekends until the
renewal of licences was completed.

Zimbabwe has a vehicle population
of around 800 000, although many vehicles may have been omitted when the
estimates were done for various reasons, said Mr Murove.

He said only
51 percent of the vehicles were in their records before adding that the rest
were likely to be registered with the Central Vehicle Registry.

Mr
Murove challenged the public not to wait for the last minute to renew their
licences.He said the situation would create unnecessary pressure and anxiety
among stakeholders yet they should start renewing licences well ahead of the
dates of expiry.

The penalty for late renewal of licences is 100
percent of the arrears, which means that if the arrears are for a small
vehicle for which US$20 is required, then the penalty would be US$40 plus
US$5 administration fee.

Tourism
Master Plan to be launched

Isdore Guvamombe in MADRID, SpainThe United Nations
World Tourism Organisation has helped Zimbabwe come up with a Tourism Master
Plan that should see the country’s tourism and hospitality industry more
than double in growth and tourist arrivals by 2015.

In an interview
at the UNWTO headquarters in Madrid, Spain, the organisation’s director for
technical co-operation and service Dr Harsh Varma, said under the plan that
is now awaiting a launch in Harare in a few weeks, Zimbabwe will be helped
to increase its tourist arrivals from 2,2 million to 5 million in two
years.

“The master plan takes into cognisance Zimbabwe’s political,
economic, social, cultural, technical and geographical aspects and when
implemented should see tourist arrivals increase from the 2010 figure of 2,2
million to 5 million in 2015.

“Jobs in the industry should increase
from the current 200 000 to 450 000 by the same year, while the country’s
contribution to the Gross Domestic Product will increase from 9,1 percent to
15 percent by the same year,’’ said Dr Varma.

Asked how he had come
up with the fugures, Dr Varma, who met with the Minister of Tourism and
Hospitality Industry Walter Mzembi, early yesterday morning, said there was
wide consultation and investigation on the situation on the ground in
Zimbabwe, during the crafting of the plan.

“We have been in touch with
the Government of Zimbabwe especially the Ministry of Tourism and based on
the consultations that we carried out, we formulated a situation analysis
which we have used to formulate a final project document which was discussed
with your Minister this morning.

“The idea is to create a long term
sustainable Tourism Master Plan for the country which will guide growth and
development of the sector for the next 15 years.

“Apart from the
major role that will be played by national authority in terms of national
policy formulation and strategy, there will be major role by provincial and
district government in terms of the indication of the country’s new
Constitution. This is going to be a highly integrated approach.”

Dr
Varma said the country’s geography, culture and tourist resorts has also
played a major role in coming up with the master plan.

“We are aiming
at geographical diversification and equitable development and the benefits
of that development should accrue to all areas of the society. We are also
going to thematic diversification, using resources ranging from culture,
nature, wildlife and art,” he said.

He said the idea is that Zimbabwe
should be able to stand on its own as a tourism hub of Southern Africa and
Africa itself.

The country, he said, should not depend on one product, it
should not walk down on narrow product supply when there is a lot of
diversity on its tourism tapestries.

Chatunga
expelled from school: report

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s son Chatunga Bellarmine is now
“home schooling” after he was expelled from St George’s College for
indiscipline, a newspaper reported on Friday.

The 16-year-old, the
last born of Mugabe’s three children with wife, Grace, “was on a last
warning and has been sent packing for gross indiscipline and
insubordination”, The Daily News reported, citing school
sources.

Chatunga, named after Mugabe’s grandfather, was reportedly
suspended for a week last year after falling foul of strict rules at the
Catholic-run school which is barely a kilometre from Mugabe’s Borrowdale
residence.

It is claimed that school authorities finally decided to expel
him after a fresh round of “clashes”, although the official line is that it
was a “voluntary withdrawal”.

We were unable to independently verify
The Daily News report, with school authorities refusing to take
questions.Lawrence Kamwi, the First Family’s spokesman, is reported as
telling the newspaper: “Very well, let your sources confirm that he was
expelled from the school.”

President Mugabe, a former teacher, is a
stickler for discipline and if reports of his son being expelled from school
are true, he would be doubly disappointed after Chatunga’s brother, Robert
Jnr, failed his A’ Levels at Kutama College in 2011.

Mugabe publicly
expressed his disappointment with the 19-year-old’s grades. He revealed:
“‘How are you doing,’ we would ask him. ‘The papers were not hard,’ he would
say.

“We expected he would get through, but no, he became an undertaker!
‘U’s! That is why they call them undertakers! The whole group were all
undertakers; about six of them.”

Mugabe has spoken glowingly of his
24-year-old daughter, Bona, who graduated with a degree in accounting from
City University in Hong Kong.

He said of Bona: “The girl was not like
that [Robert Junior]. We are with her for now. She wants to be a chartered
accountant. We are very happy for her.

“She will be wanting to get
married in a year or two, perhaps. They don’t wait. She is a home girl
though, not as outgoing as her brother.”

Both Mugabe's sons are keen CAPS
United fans. They attended over half-a-dozen football matches last year,
including national team games.

Zimbabwe fills hangman vacancy after 7-year search

(AFP) – 9 hours
ago

HARARE — Zimbabwe has finally hired a hangman after seven years of
searching, but he has not yet executed any of the 76 people on death row, a
top prisons official has said."Indeed, we now have a hangman," Prison
Service Commissioner Paradzai Zimondi was quoted as saying in Saturday's
edition of The Herald, Zimbabwe's state-controlled daily.The post was
filled last year by a candidate the paper speculated was of Malawian origin.
The previous executioner retired in 2005.The government had repeatedly
advertised the job in the press, but it took a long time to find
takers.Of the 16,902 criminals being held in Zimbabwe's jails, 76 of them
are awaiting the hangman's noose, Zimondi said."These people are still
to be executed. In fact no one has been executed in the past 12 years," he
said.Some death row inmates were convicted more than 14 years ago but were
still appealing their cases when the previous hangman retired.Two death
row prisoners are women, who may be spared the noose if a new constitution
is adopted in a referendum sometime this year.Zimbabwe's new draft
constitution exempts women and anyone under 21 or above 70 from the death
penalty.

76 inmates
on death row

Evelene
Taadira Herald ReporterSEVENTY-SIX inmates, two of them female, are
languishing in prison awaiting execution.

The State recently
announced that the hangman’s post had been filled. The post had no takers
for 12 years.

Zimbabwe Prison Service Commissioner Retired General
Paradzai Zimondi told journalists that the prisoners are awaiting execution
despite the Government having appointed a hangman.

The journalists
were on a media tour of Harare Central Remand Prisons yesterday.“Indeed,
we now have a hangman but these people are still to be executed. In fact, no
one has been executed in the past 12 years,” he said.

The new hangman,
believed to be Malawian, ended an eight-year search mid last year, with a
backlog of 71 people on his hands.

The waiting list has, however,
increased in the past months.Rtd Gen Zimondi said Zimbabwe’s prisons were
holding 16 902 inmates.He said only 587 of these were women and 124 were
juveniles.

The prisons chief said 69 babies were staying with their
mothers in different prisons across Zimbabwe.

“Generally, we are not
experiencing overcrowding since all our prisons have a combined holding
capacity of 17 000.

“However, we are experiencing overcrowding mainly in
remand prisons as people continue to commit crimes while those waiting for
trial and sentencing are taking long to be convicted,” he
said.

Harare Central Remand Prison holds 611 inmates in its different
sections, and 274 are foreigners.Rtd Gen Zimondi said the Immigration
Department, together with various embassies, were responsible footing the
bills of those to be deported.

In the past, foreigners have languished in
remand prison for years after failure to raise funds for air tickets to
their home countries.

“It is
disturbing to note that the service is failing to satisfactorily provide all
these necessities mainly due to inadequate funding from the
fiscus.

“It is not a secret that in the past decade that the country
has experienced serious economic hardships that severely affected our
operations,” he said.

In an interview, Ministry of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs chief legal officer Mrs Priscilla Mbanga said delays
in the trial of prisoners were as a result of flaws in the legal
system.

“The delays in trial and conviction are a result of many reasons
amongst them absenteeism of witnesses. In the meantime, the nation should
know that judges have a code of conduct judging their activities and hence
will react to situations professionally,” she said.There are 46 prisons
in Zimbabwe.

Satanists
cause stir at Harare prison

A GROUP of Satanists is causing a stir at Harare Remand Prison,
where they are demanding to be allowed to worship freely.

Prison
authorities admit they are at a loss over what to do with the men from
Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo who claim to be Satanists.

“They
are afraid to take us to court because they know we did nothing wrong,”
George Lungange, wearing prison garb written “Super Devil” told journalists
during a tour of the facility on Friday. “There is freedom of worship in
Zimbabwe, we should be freed.”

Prison authorities say they wanted to
deport the three ring leaders, a Rwandan and two Congolese nationals, but
the duo was long granted refugee status, meaning they are in Zimbabwe
legally.

“We initially thought they were illegal immigrants, but then we
realised they had been granted refugee status,” a prison official said. “If
we release them they have to go to Tongogarara Refugee Camp and that is
where we fear what will happen.”

Unperturbed, the two alleged devil
worshippers say they are going on with their work and have managed to
recruit more inmates into their world of darkness.

“What we want is
freedom from God, we want freedom to do wrong,” another Satanist from the
Democratic Republic of Congo said.

The trio has since written to prison
authorities asking for paraphernalia for them to conduct their
religion.Among other things, they asked for a razor blade, a red coffin and
red garments, but the prison officials are having none of
it.

Lungange, Brangsto from DRC and Rwandese Busy Mana Thenetse were
arrested last year after they filed an application with the Ministry of
Labour and Social Welfare to establish the church at the Tongogora Refugee
Camp

Four
Gold Panners Die in Abandoned Mine Shaft

Four illegal gold panners died instantly another was
seriously injured Thursday evening in Penhalonga when an abandoned mine
shaft they were scouring for gold deposits in collapsed on top of
them.

The bodies of the deceased and the injured were all taken to Mutare
provincial hospital.

There was sorrow at the homes of the four
deceased - Michael Chapeta, Moses Chikwara, Virimai Tembo and one
indentified as Jealous.

They were panning for gold in a 17-metre deep
mine shaft in Tsvingwe, Penhalonga, witnesses said. Survivor Joseph Makoni
is reportedly being treated at the Mutare provincial hospital where his
condition is said to be stable.

Chapota’s survibing brother,
Wellington, said he was lucky not to have got into the mine shaft at the
time.

The surviving Chapota said people in the area assisted in the
recovery of the bodies helped the survivor escape the mine
shaft.

Jealousy Chipoka said the collapse of the mine shaft was
unexpected.

Mutasa South Member of Parliament, Misheck Kagurabadza, said
he was touched by the loss of life, adding that people must be empowered to
ensure they do not risk their lives.

Manicaland provincial
spokesperson Enock Chishiri confirmed he had heard about incident but did
not want to comment as he did not have the details.

Mellow yellow

Dear Family and Friends,Yellow might be the colour of cowardice but as
January came to an end,it would be more appropriate to describe yellow as
the colour offoreboding in Zimbabwe. After a month of almost daily rain in
whichmany places received half of their annual rainfall in less than
thirtydays, it was with considerable trepidation that the view from
thewindow was contemplated when the heavens finally dried up.

In
urban areas roadside maize planted illegally in any and every openspace is a
contradictory hotchpotch of disaster and bonanza. Peoplewho had built up
contours around their little self apportioned plotsand added compost,
fertilizer and mulch are smiling all over theirfaces. Their maize is
towering, the leaves dark, glossy green and cobsfull and ripening.‘Help
yourself,’ a man said when I complimented him on his crop.One cob was
selected and snapped off, not too big that it would betough, not too small
that the kernels wouldn’t be sufficientlyformed. It took only a couple of
minutes to cook, the leaves gettingpaler and thinner as they were peeled
back to the centre. The mouthwatered and fingers burned as the fine, soft
yellow silks that liebetween the lines of plump, juicy kernels were picked
out; a fewsmears with the butter knife, salt, pepper: heaven.

Right
next to this bounty are the little plots of people who plantedand ignored:
no compost or fertilizer, no cultivating and worst of allthis year, no
contours to save the soil. Incessant rains have leftthese squares heavily
washed, any goodness long gone, the plantsyellow and scrawny, some trying to
promise a cob or two, but mostfailing and flailing in the
breeze.

Then there’s the view from the country window, the roadside
farms.Oh my word what a fearful foreboding this sight gives for our
countryin the coming months. Almost everything looks to be too late.
Peoplewere still planting maize after Christmas and into early January,
toolate in the best of seasons. Then the heavens opened and the
rainsdidn’t stop for three or more weeks. Instead of being head high
andwith their flowers waving in the wind, the maize plants are
barelycalf high, in some places ankle high, and almost everywhere it
ispale, sickly yellow, you can almost hear it pleading for a fewhandfuls
of fertilizer but it’s too late.

Away from the depressing little squares
of yellow and trying not thinkwhere our broke government will find the money
to import food neededto replace these failed crops, spirits lift at the
glorious naturalyellow everywhere else. In the wild open spaces that we
collectivelycall ‘the bush,’ there’s an explosion of yellow in the
carpetsof wild flowers. In some places it’s a bright, dazzling yellow
andin others it’s a quiet, soothing, ‘mellow yellow,’ as hypnoticas the
song of the sixties. And for those lucky enough to be in theright place at
the right time, there are exquisite pure yellow flamelilies trailing in the
grass, climbing up the rocks, waiting to bediscovered and admired, just
breathtaking . Until next time, thanksfor reading. Love cathy. 2nd February
2013. Copyright � Cathy Buckle.www.cathybuckle.com

Do
you think Scotland should be independent?

February 1, 2013, 1:35 pmIt
really looks as if Zimbabwe is edging closer to a new constitution at last.
The draft document still has to get through parliament and then be put to
the people in a referendum, though how exactly that is going to be paid for
is not clear. The Finance Minister has once again appealed to the
international community for cash to finance both the referendum and the
election.

There has been much talk in the UK recently about the
possible holding of a referendum on Scottish Independence and it was
enlightening to hear experts talking about how important it is to get the
wording of the question right. For example, “Do you think Scotland should be
independent?” is subtly different from “Ought Scotland to be independent?”
though it might take a linguistics expert to appreciate the subtlety! Where
you have a multi-lingual electorate, this problem is likely to be even more
complicated. English is Zimbabwe’s official language but even those whose
mother tongue is English may not always appreciate the difference between
‘Should’ and ‘Ought’; in other words the question to be asked must be
absolutely clear and without ambiguity.

It will, of course, be a
pre-requisite that the electorate have actually read the lengthy document
for themselves. Campaigning for a NO response has already started with
individual issues exciting much comment and analysis in the media. It is
reported that Zanu PF have approved the draft and last week it was further
reported that Mugabe had bragged in the politburo that he had outwitted the
MDC on constitutional issues. Indeed, the COPAC negotiator, Paul Mangwana
has revealed that Mugabe virtually dictated the draft. The president’s own
position has certainly been protected and it seems that Mugabe could rule
for another ten years under the new constitution - always assuming he lives
that long. The suggestion that the document is the result of a deal by the
political elite appears to have some merit. It will, however, be the
Zimbabwean people themselves who decide on whether they accept this new
constitution but the wording of the referendum question remains
all-important. Is it to be a straight “Do you accept this draft constitution
- Yes or No”? If that is the case, a ‘Yes’ vote would imply that the voter
is presumed to accept all the clauses, even those of which he may not
approve. The revelation that this new constitution includes features which
many people will find unacceptable is not surprising given the heavy
political influence on the drafting process. A constitution enshrines the
fundamental principles on which a state is governed and embodies the rights
of subjects in that state. Zimbabwe’s new draft constitution includes the
contentious matter of land apportion and makes the current spate of land
takeovers a constitutional right. As for the matter of discrimination, it is
apparently allowable providing, as Chapter 5, section 5 states: “unless it
is established that the discrimination is fair, reasonable, and justified in
a democratic society based on openness, justice, human dignity, equality and
freedom.” Perhaps that statement makes sense to some but I find it no better
than gobbledygook; surely, discrimination in a democratic society is never
justified, it is always unfair and unreasonable. The news today that the
pro-Zanu PF Al Shabab terror group in Kwekwe has violently disrupted a
meeting where the draft document was being discussed illustrates the
intolerance that is the hallmark of Zanu PF politics Zimbabweans will hope
that the presence of SADC observers at the referendum may lessen the
possibility of the ensuing violence.